MoQ Target

Introduction

The MoQ Target is Composer's publishing endpoint for the Vindral CDN over MoQ (Media over QUIC) — the IETF's emerging real-time streaming protocol that replaces the round-trip latency and connection-fragility quirks of RTMP with a QUIC-native publish-subscribe model. The target encodes the rendered scene into one or more configurable video and audio profiles, multiplexes them into a MoQ track, and publishes to a Vindral channel addressed by a Channel ID + Stream Key pair.

Why MoQ

• Sub-second glass-to-glass latency in the right network conditions — the protocol's QUIC backbone removes the buffering that RTMP / HLS chains accumulate.
• Native multi-track publishing — video + audio + alternate-language audio all ride on the same MoQ session as separate tracks the player can subscribe to independently. No remuxing, no separate parallel streams.
• Graceful recovery on lossy or changing networks — when a connection drops, the target reconnects automatically on a configurable interval instead of requiring the manual restart RTMP relies on.
• Authenticated publish via Stream Key — the same credential model used by every other Vindral CDN tool, so the publish side fits the rest of the workflow.

When to Use MoQ Target

• Multi-bitrate streaming:
  Configure multiple video tracks at different resolutions and bitrates for adaptive playback.

• Multi-language audio:
  Add multiple audio tracks with different language codes and channel configurations. Video, audio, and alternate-language audio all ride the same MoQ session as separate tracks the player can subscribe to independently. No remuxing, no separate parallel streams.

• Vindral LiveCloud delivery:
  Stream content to the Vindral Live CDN for global distribution with ultra-low latency.

• Advanced audio routing:
  Combine main audio bus channels with Audio Channel Strip sources across tracks.

• Publishing over unstable networks:
  On a connection drop the target re-establishes the session automatically on a configurable interval — combined with Alternative-URL failover, the publish chain self-heals through transient outages instead of waiting for a manual restart.

Setup

1. Add MoQ Target to your project outputs.

2. Select connection mode:
   Choose Auto (Vindral CDN) to have the target build the publish URL automatically from the Channel ID and Stream Key, pointing at the standard Vindral ingest — the right choice for most deployments. Choose Custom to enter the full Connection URL yourself.

3. Configure credentials:
   Enter your Stream Key (Auto mode), or the Connection URL and Channel ID (Custom mode). For high availability, add Alternative URLs (semicolon-separated) that the target cycles through on a connection failure, with a configurable Reconnect Interval between attempts.

4. Add video encoding tracks:
   Configure one or more video tracks with bitrate, resolution, and codec settings.

5. Configure audio encoding tracks:
   Set up audio tracks with channel mapping, bitrate, and language metadata.

6. Start streaming:
   Use the Start command to begin streaming.

MoQ Target - Settings

General

General — autostart, advanced visibility, debug logging, connection mode and URL.

Target state

Target state — live readouts of the connection status and any error message.

Protocol Options

Protocol Options — Channel ID and Stream Key used by the MoQ sink for publishing.

Metadata

Metadata — inject side-channel data (text, JSON, cue points, ad markers) alongside the stream.

Commands

Commands — start and stop the MoQ session.

Video Encoding

Video Encoding — list of video tracks (resolution, bitrate, codec) that will be multiplexed into the MoQ session.

Audio Encoding

Audio Encoding — list of audio tracks (bitrate, sample rate, channels, language) to multiplex into the MoQ session.

Target Performance

Target Performance — live readouts of throughput, frame counters, bitrate stats, and the active ingest URL.

Inherits from: AbstractTarget.

See also: MoQ Target in Script Engine Objects.

Video Track Parameters

Audio Track Parameters

Encoder Performance (Advanced)

This section is only visible when Show advanced options is enabled. All fields are read-only.

Workflow Tips

Quick Start with Vindral CDN

1. Add a MoQ Target to your project
2. Set Connection Mode to Auto (Vindral CDN)
3. Enter your Stream Key in Protocol Options
4. Add at least one video encoding track (default settings work for most cases)
5. The default audio track (128 Kb/s stereo, channels 1 & 2) is created automatically
6. Click Start to begin streaming

Multi-Bitrate Streaming

• Add multiple video tracks with different resolutions and bitrates for adaptive delivery
• For example: Track 1 at 1920x1080 / 5000 Kb/s, Track 2 at 1280x720 / 2500 Kb/s, Track 3 at 640x360 / 800 Kb/s
• Use H.264 NVENC (GPU) for hardware-accelerated encoding across all tracks
• Consider AV1 NVENC (GPU) for better compression at lower bitrates (requires compatible NVIDIA GPU)

Multi-Language Audio

• Configure the first audio track with your primary language and set the Language tag (e.g., "eng")
• Add additional audio tracks for each language
• Map each track to different main bus channels, or use Audio Channel Strip components as sources for flexible routing
• Set appropriate Language metadata for each track

Using Audio Channel Strips

Audio Channel Strips act as auxiliary audio buses. To use them:

1. Add Audio Channel Strip components to your project
2. Route audio sources to the strips using send controls
3. In the MoQ Target audio encoding section, select the appropriate strip as the Audio Source for the track

Low Latency Streaming

• Use H.264 NVENC (GPU) or AV1 NVENC (GPU) for hardware-accelerated encoding
• Set B-Frames to 0 (default)
• Keep GOP Size at Same as processing framerate (default)
• Use baseline H.264 profile for widest compatibility

URL Failover

• Set your primary URL in Connection URL
• Enter additional URLs in Alternative URLs (semicolon-separated)
• On connection failure, the target automatically cycles through all URLs
• Set Reconnect Interval to control the delay between reconnection attempts

Troubleshooting

"Stream Key is required":

• In Auto mode, enter a valid Stream Key in Protocol Options
• In Custom mode, enter a Connection URL and Channel ID instead

Stream fails to connect:

• Verify the Connection URL is correct and reachable
• In Auto mode, ensure the Stream Key is valid
• In Custom mode, verify the Channel ID is set

Frequent disconnections:

• Increase the Reconnect Interval for automatic recovery
• Add Alternative URLs for failover redundancy
• Check network connectivity and bandwidth
• Monitor the Reconnections counter for patterns

Video quality issues:

• Increase the video track Bitrate
• Try a higher H.264 Profile (e.g., high) for better compression
• Consider AV1 NVENC (GPU) for improved quality at the same bitrate

High encoder queue depths:

• Video Input Queue high: GPU or CPU is bottlenecked on frame preparation. Reduce the number of video tracks or lower resolutions
• Encoding Input Queue high: Encoder is overloaded. Reduce bitrate, number of tracks, or switch to GPU encoding
• Output Queue high: Network bandwidth is insufficient. Reduce total bitrate or check network conditions

Audio not working:

• Ensure at least one audio track is configured
• Verify the Audio Source channel mapping matches your input audio configuration
• If using Audio Channel Strips, ensure the strip has audio routed to it
• Check that source audio is present in the Composer scene

NVENC encoder not available:

• Verify an NVIDIA GPU is installed with up-to-date drivers
• Switch to H.264 (CPU) as a fallback
• Check that the GPU is not overloaded by other applications
• AV1 NVENC requires an Ada Lovelace generation GPU or newer

Related components

• MoQ input — the receiver-side counterpart. Use it when Composer consumes a MoQ stream rather than producing one.
• SRT Target — pick this for sending out over unmanaged networks when MoQ isn't the right fit at the destination; SRT layers retransmission and bounded latency on top of UDP.
• SRT input — the SRT receiver-side for incoming contribution over unmanaged networks.
• RTMP Target — pick this for pushing to a CDN, RTMP origin, or third-party live platform that doesn't speak MoQ.
• RTMP input — the RTMP receiver-side for ingesting an RTMP stream.
• NDI Target — for publishing a Composer scene to other NDI-aware tools on the same studio LAN; mDNS auto-discovery, very low latency, not internet-traversable.
• NDI input — the NDI receiver-side for studio-LAN contribution.
• FFmpeg Target — power-user target for any container / protocol the dedicated targets don't expose; useful as an escape hatch when MoQ / RTMP / SRT / NDI don't fit.